Breathing Gets Harder
by Gemina
Summary: It was supposed to be a happy day. He was certain of that. How had a day of sunshine and nervous heartbeats turned into blood and tears? Nejiten


**Just made this on a spur of the moment. I own nothing...**

_Neji paced the training grounds he was waiting in. How long had it been? He knew it, but still, the amount of time wouldn't come to mind. Strange. Of all the days to choose, she had to be late today..._

_He was naturally shy, and he liked to think he'd long overcome it, but honestly, it still affected him when it came to being open and such. To saying what his feelings were. That made today especially hard, he thought to himself, putting his hand in his pocket for the umpteenth time. Still there._

_Where was she? She'd promised she'd be on time...she'd never let him down should go check on her, it had been too long..._

Neji shook his head to himself as he prepared for his mission. No point in dwelling. Nothing he could do to change the past, it had been meant to happen, he was certain of it. The Gods had seen the unworthy girl and...he couldn't finish the thought. Either way, it was his fault. He was a Hyuuga, he couldn't follow his heart. Especially now, since it was in pieces.

"Hyuuga? Come on, it's time to go." His teammate. Most people walked as if on eggshells around him, and he let them do so, even after all the time that had passed. He pulled on his mask, standing. It was time to work.

Today's mission was to take out an important leader, leading some sort of rebel cause. He didn't bother learning the name of the subject, they'd be easy enough to spot, after all. Apparently, they'd fashioned their own symbol, like a forehead protector. Those people were crazy to think they could change something that had been the same for hundreds of years.

Tree branches whistled by his head as he sped through the forest gracefully, his partner heading another direction. They were zeroing in on the correct location. He spotted a trap, quickly disabling it with a kunai. Too simple, much too simple. These people really didn't know what they were doing.

He shook his head to himself, continuing on. It was a pity to have to crush something so pathetic, but then again, everything had to fall at one point, didn't it?

_She should never have been like this...never...Neji gaped in horror at his teammate, unable to get a sound past his mouth as nin brushed past him, taking care of the scene. But not her. They left her in place, exactly where they'd found her, tracing white lines around her. One nin had stopped upon seeing Neji, patting him on the shoulder slightly._

_"She's in a better place."_

_But he was in a worse place without her. His fingers clenched around the small box in his pocket, as he tried not to show his grief...._

The rebels had set up a camp in the very heart of the forest, their flag proudly marking them as the group of individuals Neji was targeting. He paused to take in the situation. There were children, and women untrained to fight taking care of them. He'd have to be more careful than usual, to prevent unnecessary death. His heart clenched painfully as he watched happy families interacting with each other. They had no idea what was to come, how their lives would be turned upside down.

He turned, sneaking towards a particular tent that stood out from the rest, in that it was bright red. Apparently, the leader wasn't afraid that ninja would come and kill them. And why would they be? They were in a small country that didn't have nin, and the rebel army had yet to kill anyone. This mission was to nip it in the bud.

He saw the outline of a person in the tent, and figured he would simply get it over with. A flick of the wrist, and metal flew through the air, piercing the flesh of the target in no time. They let out a surprised gurgle, before dropping to the floor, dead. Neji didn't prefer that his targets suffer unduly before death. It would haunt him...

_Her face was stretched into a scream. It would haunt him forever, waking him up in the middle of the night. If he had started to search for her sooner...if he hadn't been so preoccupied with the little box in his pocket, which he would now never use._

_Perhaps he could've saved her. Perhaps her last sight in the world wouldn't have been dirt. _

_He would sit in front of her gravestone for hours, thinking these thoughts. He would see his face reflected off the jet black of her gravestone, and he would see a soulless Hyuuga. He felt so alone in the world with her gone..._

His partner appeared beside him.

"My target has been neutralized, as well. Let's go."

They both set off, almost wordlessly. Neji wasn't in much of a hurry to return to the cold Hyuuga manor, but his partner had a family, so he kept his pace up.

"Neji, I've been thinking, and, I was wondering if you' like to join my family for dinner tonight?" It was a rather familiar question, answered with the typical shake of a head. Neji had other things to do.

When he arrived home, he went straight to his room, ignoring Hinata as she tried to ask him how his day was. She'd married the blonde idiot, and he couldn't stand to be around her happy ending. He took out a kunai, pulling back his sleeve to reveal a row of neat scars. He added another, for the person he'd killed that day. He watched as the warm blood dripped down his arm.

_He'd killed him. The man who'd hurt her like that. The man who dared to touch her. He was dead. But he didn't feel any better, covered in his blood. _

_It wouldn't bring her back. _

_That was when he knew, he would never heal. After that day, he never spoke again._

**Well, that was pretty dark, at least for me. Strange. Don't forget to review!**


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